Performance of Nordic Countries in TIMSS and PIRLS: An Asian perspective Frederick K.S. Leung The...

Performance of Nordic Countries in TIMSS and PIRLS:

An Asian perspective

Frederick K.S. LeungThe University of Hong Kong

A presentation delivered at the conference“Northern Lights on TIMSS and PIRLS 2011

19 May 2014

Countries in TIMSS and PIRLS 2011

ArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahrainBelgium (Flemish) BotswanaChileChinese TaipeiCroatiaCzech RepublicDenmarkEnglandFinlandGeorgiaGermany

MacedoniaMalaysiaMaltaMoroccoThe NetherlandsNew Zealand Northern Ireland NorwayOmanPalestinian Nat’l Auth.PolandPortugalQatarRomaniaRussian FederationSaudi Arabia

SerbiaSingaporeSlovak Republic SloveniaSouth AfricaSpainSwedenSyrian Arab Republic ThailandTunisia TurkeyUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited StatesYemen

GhanaHondurasHong Kong SARHungaryIndonesiaIran, Islamic Rep. ofIrelandIsraelItalyJapanJordanKazakhstanKorea, Rep. of KuwaitLebanonLithuania

4th Grade

Mathematics

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011

4th Grade Mathematics (first 15 countries)



8th Grade

Mathematics


8th Grade Mathematics (first 15 countries)

4th Grade

Science


4th Grade Science (first 15 countries)


8th Grade

Science


8th Grade Science (first 15 countries)


4th Grade Reading

Performance of East Asian and Nordic countries in TIMSS & PIRLS 2011

Maths G4

S’pore (606)Korea (605)HKG (602)Taiwan (591)Japan (585Finland (545)Denmark (537)Sweden (504)Norway (495)

Maths G8

Korea (613)S’pore (611)Taiwan (609)HKG (586)Japan (570)Finland (514)Sweden (484)Norway (475)

Science G4

Korea (587)S’pore (583)Finland (570)Japan (559)Taiwan (552)HKG (535)Sweden (533)Denmark (528)Norway (494)

Science G8

S’pore (590)Taiwan (564)Korea (560)Japan (558)Finland (552)HKG (535)Sweden (509)Norway (494)

Reading G4

HKG (571)Finland (568)S’pore (567)Denmark (554)Taiwan (553)Sweden (542)Norway (507)

Mathematics achievements of East Asian countries in past cycles of TIMSS

TIMSS 1995

How do we explain such patterns of scores?

Can the patterns of student achievements be explained by background variables such as the wealth of the countries or the characteristics of the education systems?

20

GNI per capita (US$)


Background variables for East Asian countries in TIMSS 2007 (Mathematics)

• Parent with University Degree or Above

• Mathematics Teacher with University Degree or Above

• Class size for Mathematics Instruction

• Mathematics Instructional Time

• Emphasis on Mathematics Homework

• School Resources for Mathematics Instruction

Parent with University Degree or Above (Int’l Avg. = 24%)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Iran Hong Kong Australia ChineseTaipei

Singapore Japan Korea UnitedStates

Countries


Mathematics Teacher with University Degree or Above (G.4 Int’l Avg. = 70%)


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Iran Singapore Hong Kong Chinese Taipei England Australia Japan Netherlands United States

Countries

Mathematics Teacher with University Degree or Above (G.8 Int’l Avg. = 78%)


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Perc

enta

ge o

f stu

dent

s

Iran Hong Kong ChineseTaipei

England Singapore Australia Japan United States Korea

Countries

Class size for Mathematics Instruction (G.4 Int’l Avg. = 26 students)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

No.

of s

tude

nts

Netherlands United States Australia Iran England Chinese Taipei Japan Hong Kong Singapore

Countries


Class size for Mathematics Instruction (G.8 Int’l Avg. = 29 students)


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

No.

of s

tude

nts

UnitedStates

Australia Iran England Japan ChineseTaipei

Hong Kong Korea Singapore

Countries

Mathematics Instructional Time (G.4 Int’l Avg. = 144 hours)


0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

No.

of

hou

rs

Iran ChineseTaipei

Japan Hong Kong UnitedStates

Australia Netherlands England Singapore

Countries

Mathematics Instructional Time (G.8 Int’l Avg. = 120 hours)


0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

No.

of

hou

rs

Iran Korea Japan England Singapore Australia Hong Kong UnitedStates

ChineseTaipei

Countries

Percentage of Implemented Instructional Time for Mathematics (G.4 Int’l Avg. = 16%)


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Per

cent

age

of in

stru

ctio

nal t

ime

ChineseTaipei

Hong Kong Iran Japan Netherlands UnitedStates

Australia England Singapore

Countries

Percentage of Implemented Instructional Time for Mathematics (G.8 Int’l Avg. = 12%)


0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

Per

cent

age

of in

stru

ctio

nal t

ime

Japan Iran Korea England UnitedStates

Australia Singapore ChineseTaipei

Hong Kong

Countries

High Emphasis on Mathematics Homework(G.4 Int’l Avg. = 13%)


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Per

cen

tage

of

stu

den

ts

Netherlands England Australia UnitedStates

Japan ChineseTaipei

Iran Hong Kong Singapore

Countries

High Emphasis on Mathematics Homework (G.8 Int’l Avg. = 28%)


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Per

cen

tage

of

stu

den

ts

Australia Japan Korea England UnitedStates

Hong Kong ChineseTaipei

Singapore Iran

Countries

School Resources for Mathematics Instruction (G.4 Int’l Avg. = 43%)


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Per

cent

age

of s

tude

nts

Iran ChineseTaipei

Netherlands United States England Australia Hong Kong Japan Singapore

Countries

School Resources for Mathematics Instruction (G.8 Int’l Avg. = 32%)


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Per

cent

age

of s

tude

nts

Iran Korea England ChineseTaipei

United States Japan Australia Hong Kong Singapore

Countries

Background variables related to high mathematics achievement of East

Asian countries in TIMSS 2007

• Class size– Larger class size

• Grade 4 homework– More emphasis on mathematics homework at

Grade 4

What can we conclude?

• Student achievement cannot be accounted for totally, or even to a significant extent, by these background factors

• Some factors (e.g., SES) may explain variations in achievement within a country, but they may not account for across country differences

• Background characteristics may be important factors for explaining student achievement, but they are not the only factors – and may not even be the most important factors

How do we explain student achievements?The IEA Curriculum framework:

40

41

Does the implemented curriculum explain the attained curriculum?

TIMSS 1999 Video Study

Goal: To describe and compare eighth-grade mathematics teaching across seven countries (Australia, Czech Republic, Hong Kong SAR, Japan*, Netherlands, Switzerland, United States)

* The 1995 Japanese data were re-analyzed using the 1999 methodology in some of the analysis

42

Sampling and Data Collection of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study

• National probability sample of 8th-grade mathematics lessons: a Video Survey

• One lesson per teacher• Sampled across the school year• Standardized camera procedures• Altogether 638 lessons were videotaped

from 50 (Japan) – 140 (Switzerland)

Analysing the TIMSS 1999 videos:

• Quantitative analysis– Structure of the lessons– Events in the lessons– Mathematics problems worked on in the

lessons

• Qualitative analysis– Expert judgement on the quality of the

lessons

43

44

Data coding and analysis

• An international team developed codes to apply to the video data.

• Fluently bilingual coders in the international video coding team applied 45 codes in seven coding passes to each of the videotaped lessons.

• Three marks (i.e., the in-point, out-point, and category) were evaluated and included in the measures of reliability.

• If, after numerous attempts, reliability measures fell below the minimum acceptable standard, the code was dropped from the study.

45

The Mathematics Quality Analysis Group• A specialist group in mathematics and teaching

mathematics at the post-secondary level reviewed a randomly selected subset of 120 lessons (20 lessons from each country except Japan).

• The international video coding team created expanded lesson tables for each lesson in this subset.

• The tables included details about the classroom interaction, the nature of the math problems worked on, mathematical generalizations, and other relevant information.

• The tables were “country-blind,” with all indicators that might reveal the country removed.

46

Do instructional practices explain the high student achievement?

Instructional practices in Hong Kong: 1. Whole-class interaction dominates

“Comparing across countries, eighth-grade mathematics lessons in Hong Kong SAR spent a greater percentage of lesson time in public interaction (75 percent) than those in the other countries, except the United States.” (pp. 54-55, Chapter 3)

47

Lesson Organization: Percent of lesson time in different interaction types

# Rounds to zero.‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to be reported.

48

2. Teacher talks most of the time

“Hong Kong SAR eighth-grade mathematics teachers spoke significantly more words relative to their students (16:1) than did teachers in Australia (9:1), the Czech Republic (9:1), and the United States (8:1).” (p. 109, Chapter 5)

49

Average number of teacher and student words per lesson (50 minutes)

50

Ratio of teacher to student words in mathematics lessons

51

3. Students solve procedural problems unrelated to real-life following prescribed methods

“Hong Kong SAR lessons contained a larger percentage of problem statements classified as using procedures (84 percent) than all the other countries except the Czech Republic (77 percent).” (p. 98, Chapter 5)

52

Average percentage of problems of each problem statement type

53

Average percentage of problems set up with symbols only versus real life connection

54

Percent of problems with student choice

Instructional practices as portrayed by a quantitative analysis of the codes

1.Whole-class interaction dominates

2.Teacher talks most of the time

3.Students solve procedural problems unrelated to real-life following prescribed methods

Traditional teaching, not conducive to learning?

55

56

Quality of content as judged by the Mathematics Quality Analysis Group

(Using the same data set)

“Readers are urged to be cautious in their interpretations of these results because the sub-sample, due to its relatively small size, might not be representative of the entire sample or of eighth-grade mathematics lessons in each country.” (p. 190, Appendix D)

57

1. Relatively advanced content

“the ratings for countries with the most advanced (5) to the most elementary (1) content in the sub-sample of lessons, were the Czech Republic and Hong Kong SAR (3.7), Switzerland (3.0), the Netherlands (2.9), the United States (2.7), and Australia (2.5)” (p. 191, Appendix D)

58

Percentage of lessons in sub-sample at each content level

59

2. More deductive reasoning

• Deduction reasoning = “deriving conclusions from stated assumptions using a logical chain of inferences.”

• The reasoning did not need to include a formal proof, only a logical chain of inferences with some explanation.

60

Percentage of lessons in sub-sample that contained deductive reasoning

61

3. More coherent

Coherence was defined by the group as

the (implicit and explicit) interrelation of

all mathematical components of the

lesson.

62

Percentage of lessons in sub-sample rated at each level of coherence

63

4. More fully developed presentation

• Presentation = “the extent to which the lesson included some development of the mathematical concepts or procedures”.

• Development required that mathematical reasons or justifications were given for the mathematical results presented or used.

• Presentation ratings took into account the quality of mathematical arguments.

• Higher ratings meant that sound mathematical reasons were provided by the teacher (or students) for concepts and procedures.

• Mathematical errors made by the teacher reduced the ratings.

64

Percentage of lessons in sub-sample rated at each level of presentation

65

5. Students more likely to be engaged

• Student engagement = “the likelihood that students would be actively engaged in meaningful mathematics during the lesson”.

• A rating of very unlikely (1) indicated a lesson in which students were asked to work on few of the problems and those problems did not appear to stimulate reflection on math concepts or procedures.

• A rating of very likely (5) indicated a lesson in which students were expected to work actively on, and make progress solving, problems that appeared to raise interesting mathematical questions for them and then to discuss their solutions with the class.

66

Percent of lessons in sub-sample rated at each level of student engagement

67

6. Overall quality

Overall quality judgment:

“the opportunities that the lesson provided for students to construct important mathematical understandings” (p. 199, Appendix D)

“the relative standing of Hong Kong SAR was consistently high ….” (p. 200, Appendix D)

68

Percentage of lessons in sub-sample rated at each level of overall quality

69

Rating of overall content

Instructional practices as portrayed by a qualitative analysis of the

same data set

1. Relatively advanced content

2. More deductive reasoning

3. Content of the lesson more coherent

4. More fully developed presentation

5. Students more likely to be engaged

6. Overall quality consistently high

70

71

Two different pictures?

• 1st picture: instructional practices portrayed through objectively coding and summarizing classroom activities

• 2nd picture: quality of content judged by expert group based on their expertise and experience

• Methodological issues: Quantitative Vs Qualitative Analyses of video data?

• How do we explain the high student achievement and seemingly backward and traditional teaching?

Attitudes towards mathematics, science and reading

• Attitudes towards mathematics, science and reading should be an important part of the attained curriculum

• Are there any patterns in Nordic and East Asian countries in their students’ attitudes?

• The charts below display some of the results of the attitudes of students in TIMSS and PIRLS 2011

Attitudinal Results

Percentage of 4th Grade Students Who Like Learning Mathematics (with selected countries)International Average (= 48%)

Students Like Learning MathematicsStudents Like Learning Mathematics


Percentages of 8th Grade Students Who Like Learning Mathematics

(International Average = 26%)


Students Valuing Mathematics Students Valuing Mathematics Percentages of 8th Grade Students Who Value

Mathematics (International Average = 46%)


Students’ Confidence in MathematicsStudents’ Confidence in MathematicsPercentages of 4th Grade Students Who Feel Confident

in Mathematics (International Average = 34%)


Percentages of 8th Grade students Who Feel Confident in Mathematics (International Average = 14%)


Students Like Learning ScienceStudents Like Learning Science Percentage of 4th Grade Students Who Like Learning Science (International Average = 53%)


Percentages of 8th Grade Students Who Like Learning Science (International Average = 35%)


Students Valuing Science Students Valuing Science Percentages of 8th Grade Students Who Value

Science (International Average = 41%)


Students’ Confidence in ScienceStudents’ Confidence in SciencePercentages of 4th Grade Students Who Feel Confident in Science (International Average = 43%


Percentages of 8th Grade students Who Feel Confident in Science (International Average = 20%)

0

20

40

Japan Korea Chinese Taipei

HONG KONG

Singapore Australia Chile England Norway United States

Iran

34

6

8

14

16

18

23 23

26

33


Students Like ReadingStudents Like Reading Percentage of 4th Grade Students Who Like Reading (International Average = 28%)


Students Motivated to ReadStudents Motivated to ReadPercentages of 4th Grade Students Who

Motivated to Read (International Average = 74%)


Students’ Confidence in ReadingStudents’ Confidence in ReadingPercentages of 4th Grade Students Who Feel

Confident in Reading (International Average = 36%)


Attitudes towards mathematics, science and reading (TIMSS and PIRLS 2011)• Common findings between Nordic countries and East

Asian countries:– Grade 8 students don’t value mathematics and science– Grade 4 students don’t like reading

• Striking findings for East Asian countries only– Students do not hold very positive attitudes towards

mathematics, science and reading– Students lack confidence in learning (Grade 8 students

lack confidence in mathematics and science, and Grade 4 students lack confidence in mathematics, science and reading)

A cultural perspective of the TIMSS and PIRLS results

• Culture: "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another." (Hofstede, 1991, p.5)

• Five dimensions of culture:– Power-distance– Collectivism vs. individualism– Femininity vs. masculinity– Uncertainty avoidance– Long- vs. short-term orientation

Project GLOBE• Divided the data from 62 countries into

regional clusters

• Clusters provide a convenient way to analyze similarities and differences between cultural groups and make meaningful generalizations about culture and leadership

• 10 distinct groups (Northouse, 2007, p.308):

The Nordic and Confucian clusters

Nordic Europe• Sweden• Norway• Denmark• Finland• Iceland

Confucian Asia• Singapore• Hong Kong• Taiwan• China• South Korea• Japan

Nordic Europe Cluster

“The cluster of Nordic Europe is related to the historical concept of Scandinavia. … the term Nordic became established to refer exclusively to the five Scandinavian countries, with their model of welfare state and common history, culture, and religion, and similar languages.” (Einola & Turgeon, 2000).

Confucian Asia Cluster“The Confucian cluster is defined by the strong

historical influence of China and Confucian ideology….. Some distinctive Confucian teachings included the emphasis on learning through a hierarchical, family modeled institution, which taught principles such as diligence, self-sacrifice, and delayed gratification. The Confucian model of a family included the firm but compassionate father, the loyal child who can never fully repay a deep debt to the parents, and the ancestors who are to be respected and worshipped.”

Findings of Project GLOBE

Characteristics of the 10 clusters (Northouse, 2007, p.309-313) :

• Anglo - competitive and result-oriented• Confucian Asia - result-driven, encourage

group working together over individual goals• Eastern Europe - forceful, supportive of co-

workers, treat women with equality• Germanic Europe - value competition &

aggressiveness and are more result-oriented

• Latin America - loyal & devoted to their families and similar groups

• Latin Europe - value individual autonomy

• Middle East - devoted & loyal to their own people, women afforded less status

• Nordic Europe - high priority on long-term success, women treated with greater equality

• Southern Asia - strong family & deep concern for their communities

• Sub-Sahara Africa - concerned & sensitive to others, demonstrate strong family loyalty

Nordic Europe“The Nordic Europe cluster, which includes

Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, exhibited several distinctive characteristics. This cluster scored high on future orientation, gender egalitarianism, institutional collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance, and low on assertiveness, in-group collectivism, and power distance. The Nordic people place a high priority on long-term success. Women are treated with greater equality.”

“The Nordic people identify with the broader society and far less with family groups. In Nordic Europe, rules, orderliness, and consistency are stressed. Assertiveness is downplayed in favor of modesty and tenderness, and power is shared equally among people at all levels of society. Cooperation and societal-level group identify are highly valued by the Nordic people.”

Confucian Asia

“This cluster, which includes Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan, exhibited high scores in performance orientation, institutional collectivism, and in-group collectivism. These countries are results driven, and they encourage the group working together over individual goals. People in these countries are devoted and loyal to their families.”

Anglo

“The Anglo cluster consists of Canada, the United States, Australia, Ireland, England, South Africa (White sample), and New Zealand. These countries or populations were high in performance orientation and low in in-group collectivism. This means it is characteristic of these countries to be competitive and results oriented, but less attached to their families or similar groups than other countries.”

How is culture related to TIMSS and PIRLS achievements?

Some relevant Confucian cultural values• Strong emphasis on the importance of

education• High expectation for students to achieve• Examination culture• Stress on diligence, practice and memorization • Pragmatic philosophy• The virtue of modesty, and• The Chinese language (skipped in this

presentation)

Emphasis on the importance of education and expectation to achieve

• The Confucian culture: emphasizes importance of education

• Students are expected to hold a serious attitude towards study

• Higher expectations of students to achieve both in educational level and in the level of subject matter to be learned

• This may explain the more advanced content learned in the East Asian classroom

Examination culture (and selection)China is the first country in the world where a national

examination system was introduced - as early as the Sui Dynasty (A.D. 587), a national examination was instituted in the imperial court to select scholars to high offices in the government. From then on, “the examinations at different dynasties were invariably the means to select appointees to the officialdom. ... The examination was later developed into a stratified system where scholars competed in local examinations and became qualified for higher level examinations ... Local successful candidates were awarded lifelong titles of scholars who became local intellectuals with respectable social status. The champions in the examination held at the central imperial court were granted high positions in the government (as high as the prime minister) and often granted marriage to the royal family.” (Cheng, 1994)

Examination culture: two-way sword

• The examination culture and the consequent competitive examination system may create “undue pressure upon students, resulting in all sorts of harmful effects such as loss of interest in (study) and behavioral problems”

• Also, learning/studying is considered a serious endeavour

• Students expected to put in hard work/ perseverance and are not supposed to enjoy the study

• This may explain their negative attitude towards study as found in international studies

Intrinsic Vs extrinsic motivation• The examination culture legitimizes performance in

examinations as a source of motivation for study– this contrasts with the views of some Western

educators who value intrinsic motivation to study and consider extrinsic motivations such as those derived from examination pressure as harmful to learning

• The East Asian value of high expectation to achieve– East Asian parents and teachers may

communicate this expectation explicitly or implicitly to their children

– high expectations and competitive examinations leave the majority of students classified as failures

– repeated experiences of a sense of failure reinforced the lack of confidence

Practice makes perfect?

• Stress in the East Asian culture on diligence and practice

• Attributes success to effort rather than innate ability• In East Asia, “repetitive learning” is “continuous

practice with increasing variation” (Marton, 1997), and practice and repetition is a “route to understanding” (Hess & Azuma, 1991)

• Equating memorization without full understanding to rote learning is too simplistic

• Practice and memorization are legitimate (and probably effective) means for understanding and learning

Pragmatic philosophy in East Asia• East Asians are known to be pragmatic people• Students take a pragmatic approach in their

learning, and teachers take a pragmatic approach in their teaching

• This may explain the “traditional teaching” in East Asian classrooms:

“East Asian teachers are competent in mathematics in general, but they deliberately taught in a procedural manner for pedagogical reasons and for the sake of efficiency. Teachers believe that it would be inefficient or confusing for school children to be exposed to rich concepts instead of clear and simple procedures.”

(Leung and Park, 2002)

The virtue of modesty• Modesty is a highly valued virtue in East Asia;

children are taught from young that one should not be boastful

• Chinese saying: “Contentedness leads to loss; modesty (or humility) leads to gain”

• This may inhibit East Asian Culture students from rating themselves too highly in attitude questionnaires, and the scores may represent less than what students really think about themselves

• But if students are constantly taught to rate themselves low, they may internalize the idea and result in really low confidence

• According to East Asian value, negative correlation between students’ confidence and achievement is expected: over-confidence lowers incentive to learn

Nordic culture

• What are the corresponding characteristics in the Nordic culture?

– “Women treated with greater equality”

– Egalitarianism

• Do these cultural values affect students’ achievement in TIMSS and PIRLS?

– Gender differences

– Spread of achievement scores

Inter-quartile range of TIMSS 2011 mathematics scores

Country• Hong Kong• Sweden• Korea• Finland• Norway• Denmark• Chinese Taipei• Singapore• USA• Australia• New Zealand• England

IQR

82

87

90

91

91

92

96

102

111

112

122

122

Country• Norway• Finland• Sweden• USA• Hong Kong• Singapore• Japan• Australia• England• New Zealand• Korea• Chinese Taipei

G8 IQR

89

89

92

105

107

113

115

115

119

120

121

140

Inter-quartile range of science scoresCountry• Japan• Norway• Finland• Korea• Hong Kong• Denmark• Chinese Taipei• Sweden• Australia• USA• England• Singapore• New Zealand

G4 IQR

82

85

86

87

92

95

96

100

105

105

110

113

116

Country• Finland• Hong Kong• Norway• Japan• Korea• Sweden• Australia• USA• Chinese Taipei• New Zealand• England• Singapore

G8 IQR

88

95

97

99

104

108

112

112

113

117

117

130

Inter-quartile range of PIRLS Grade 4 Reading scores

Country• Hong Kong• Sweden• Norway• Finland• Demark• Chinese Taipei• USA• Singapore• Australia• England• New Zealand

IQR

78

83

83

83

85

87

97

104

106

109

118

Gender differences and the spread of achievement scores in Nordic

countries• Nordic countries are doing very well in terms of

minimizing gender differences in their students’ mathematics, science and reading achievement (with the possible exception of Finland, especially in Grade 4 students’ reading)

• Nordic countries are also doing very well in minimizing spread of achievement scores among students (is this desirable?)

• Are these due to the Nordic culture?

Implications• The discussion above hints that the underlying

cultural values may be an important factor in explaining student achievement, but we should not take it as establishing a simple causal relation between culture and achievement

• Complicated cultural factors might have affected student achievement, and so drastic changes in educational policies should not be undertaken until such factors are thoroughly examined

• Any changes in educational policy must ensure that the strengths in a country are not lost in the process

• Simple transplant of policies and practices from other countries would not work, because one cannot transplant the practices without regard to the cultural differences

Cultural difference

• Culture by definition evolves slowly and stably with the passage of long periods of time, and there is simply no quick transformation of culture

• In learning from international studies and from other countries, we need to identify not only the superficial differences in educational practices, but also the intricate relationship between educational practices and the underlying culture

• It is through studying these relationships that we understand the interaction between educational practices and culture

• And through identifying commonalities and differences of both educational practices and the underlying cultures, we may then determine how much can or cannot be borrowed from another culture

Conclusion• International studies of student achievements

such as TIMSS and PIRLS have profound influence on education worldwide in the past 15 years or so

• Much attention has been paid on the ranking of countries, often without due consideration of the contextual factors that affect the performance of students from different countries

• In this presentation, it has been argued that cultural values may be an important factor in explaining differences in student achievement

• Without due consideration of the cultural and other contextual differences , passing judgement on the performance of students in different countries based on results of these international studies is very misleading, and may even be damaging

• Education is a complex endeavour – we cannot expect international studies to produce answers for all our national problems in education

• International studies such as TIMSS and PIRLS provide rich dataset for individual countries to seek answers for their own issues

• In so doing, we need wisdom, and not just data!

Thank you very much for your attention!

My email address:

[email protected]

The Chinese language• The Japanese and Korean languages are strongly

influenced by the Chinese language

Characteristics of written Chinese• Logographic: Chinese words are represented by a large

number of different visual symbols known as characters• Characters are made up of components (radicals), and

have an imaginary square as a basic writing unit.

e.g., 梁貫成• Chinese characters put emphasis on the spatial layout of

strokes, and the orthography of Chinese is based on the spatial organization of the components of the characters

Classification of Chinese Characters

“Six Writings” (liushu 六書 ) Shuowenjiezi 說文解字 (Xu Shen [ 許慎 ], ~AD 58-147)

• Xiangxing [ 象形 ](pictograms)• Zhishi [ 指事 ] (ideograms)• Xingsheng [ 形聲 ] (phono-semantic

compounds)• Huiyi [ 會意 ](ideogrammatic compounds)• Zhuanzhu [ 轉注 ] (derivative cognates)• Jiajie [ 假借 ] (phonetic loan)

Chinese writing and mathematics learning

• Close relationship between childhood experience with learning the Chinese orthography and the visual-spatial properties of Chinese characters

• Chinese characters: possess visual properties such as connectivity, closure, linearity and symmetry which are faster and easier to be captured by vision

• Lai (2008) showed that Chinese children have– Higher visual perceptual and geometric skills– Higher visual-motor integration skills than motor-reduced

visual perceptual skills• Lai used both the motor control theory and the

psychogeometric theory of Chinese-character writing to account for the surprising results

Xingsheng and algebraic thinking

• E.g., 馬 (ma, horse) and 媽 (ma, mother)• The character or radical 馬 provides the

sound, the other character or radical 女 (woman) provides the meaning

• Other characters in this series:• | 傌 | 嗎 | 媽 | 溤 | 獁 | 榪 | 瑪 | 碼 | 禡 | 罵 |

駡 | 螞 | 鎷 | 驀 | 鰢 | 鷌 |• In all these cases, the radical 馬 provides

the sound, the other radical provides the meaning

• So the radical 馬 acts as parameter, while the other radical acts as a variable

Other features of the Chinese language

• Classifiers– Chinese language – use of classifiers

between every cardinal number and the objects being quantified

– “unscramble the confusion that otherwise surrounds conservation of numbers …… explicitness and pragmatic retention of the essential semantic elements in the vocabulary it uses for mathematics” (Brimer & Griffin, 1985, p.23)

• The regular number system

Spoken Chinese1. Chinese is a monosyllabic language, where one

syllable constitutes one morpheme

2. In particular, the short pronunciation of the numbers zero to ten makes it easy to process

– “The shortest average pronunciation duration of a Chinese number is 265 ms, significantly shorter than the corresponding average of 321 ms in pronouncing a number in English” (Hoosain, 1984)

3. Tonic nature of Cantonese – nine tones (times table Vs “Nine factor song”(九因歌 ))

Performance of Nordic Countries in TIMSS and PIRLS: An Asian perspective Frederick K.S. Leung The...

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